Influencers Weekly Devotional

Go With ME

Embracing our Sacred Responsibility with Christ

Keep Hope Alive

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” - Romans 4:18 (NIV)

This is one of those verses that a Greek scholar would have a great time explaining. The only Greek I know is the guy who owns the restaurant where I get a great hero sandwich. Therefore, I can only give you my humble opinion on the verse. But, I have a good idea what the Apostle Paul was saying. Even so, the part of the sentence that says, "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed," has got to be a little confusing for most readers. The way this verse speaks to me is to read it in context with the following verse, for in doing this we see that Abraham was given a promise by God that he would be a father of many nations. This promise was given to him about 25 years before the three angels came to his tent and told him that he and Sarah would have their child within a year. By this time Abraham was about 100 years old and his wife Sarah about 90. Abraham, being the man of faith he was, believed God would and could do the impossible, even though it looked hopeless. When Sarah eavesdropped on this conversation and heard this prediction, she laughed. So, not only was Abraham having to deal with his and Sarah's aged bodies to challenge his hope, he also had to deal with a wife who literary laughed at the possibility of having their first child together. I wonder which part in Sarah's thought process about having a baby made her laugh. Was it having the baby, or thinking about her 100 year old husband coming to bed with romance in his eyes? That would make me laugh. I don't know if you have ever had your wife laugh at you when you had a little romance in mind, but I will tell you, it's not a good climate for making a baby. I think it is safe to say that Abraham had a lot of things going against the promise being fulfilled, and this is why we understand that it would be normal to have little hope. It could even be called "hopeless." His situation was "Against all hope," and yet Abraham still had hope. What a great lesson for those of us who feel that we have a hopeless situation we are facing and have given up. But if God can do what he did for Abraham in his situation, how much more can He do for us? It could be cancer, unemployment, or loss of marriage that makes us feel that our situation is hopeless. But if Abraham were speaking words of encouragement to you, he would say, "Do not lose your hope, for God can do the impossible." Only yesterday, I heard from a man who I greatly love and respect, one of our highly respected leaders who shared information about his wife. Both he and his wife must face chemotherapy to battle cancer that has invaded their bodies. My friend has been in a battle with this disease for years. Along with this, he lost his first wife to cancer, and his son died close to the same time. All of these things happened within the last few years. Our leader's wife is a beautiful young woman with small children. She received the news of the cancer only a few months ago. From the emails I have received from both these people, there is a firmly established truth on which they stand. They believe God is totally in control of the situation. They have their eyes and hope fixed on the Lord's sovereign rule over their life, even though, at times, they grow weary in the battle of faith. Several years ago, I had my own cancer threat and battle and had just completed it. It was not coincidental that I met this friend of whom I speak at this time. When we first met and shared our stories, he asked me what was my most comforting thought during my ordeal. I told him this was an easy answer. I told him what comforted me the most was that God is sovereign, and He loves me. He smiled and said it was the same with him. I think it is these two facts that allow us to face a hopeless situation and still have hope. It was this way for Abraham, and it can be the same way for us, if we will stand on His promises. How do we stand on God's promises, and allow them to undergird us in our challenging times when things seem so hopeless? There are several ways. Although I am a big proponent of memorizing God's promises so we can call one up in an instance to undergird us, I understand this can be a challenge for some people. Therefore, I would recommend that all of you invest about $5.00 in something like the Jesus Person Pocket Promise Book. This is a little book of promises by God that you can go to when you face a seemingly hopeless situation, which will remind you who God is, who you are to Him, and that He has a promise for your particular situation. The book I mentioned has about 800 promises listed, and I can almost guarantee you there will one for your specific situation. Find it. Believe it. Stand on it. God will walk you through this present threat in your life. When Sarah learned she would have a baby, she laughed. When the baby was born, he was named Isaac, which means Laughter. Certainly it was a joyous time for old Abraham and Sarah to have a baby. It was also a time of laughter to see God do an impossible thing, when everyone would say it was hopeless. This laughter began about 1800 BC and continued in a stable in Bethlehem, as God did the impossible again and birthed a child through an immaculate conception with a virgin. This laughter rang out at the miraculous resuscitation of Lazarus, as he walked out of a tomb, and it culminated in the laughter brought on because Jesus Christ conquered death and has given His believers life eternal. Now, almost 4,000 years after Laughter was born to Abraham and Sarah, laughter sustains us this day, because the same God Who did all the impossible things He did in the Bible days, is still doing them today. Does this give you as much hope it does for me to know that there is no impossible situation for God, and we always have a reason for hope? If it does, then keep hope alive in your challenges, for He Who is able has promised. Now, find what He has promised you. Standing on the promises, Rocky IF YOU'D LIKE TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS DEVOTIONAL, CLICK HERE